BMW Battery Failure : 8,000 km Later

This battery failure episode would likely come as a surprise to readers of this blog, just as it had been a nasty surprise for myself. We have always invested in genuine BMW parts for its perceived reliability and dependability. But besides the surprise of the failed part, the failure of the Auto Bavaria customer services was the nastier part that left a bad after-taste in the mouth. More about this later.

Battery is a wear-and-tear component that would deteriorate over time; and Auto Bavaria Malaysia recommends for BMW cars' batteries be replaced with original BMW premium batteries for added peace of mind. This X1 had a replacement battery done in July 2016 with its mileage registered at 19k km, at a cost of circa RM1,350.

My other marques' mechanics had recommended that using other batteries (DIN75 for X1) from Century, Yuasa, Panasonic, etc would be a cheaper alternative. These brands would typically cost between RM400 - RM480 per piece with 12 - 15 months warranty. Do note that BMW battery comes with 24 months warranty, so the premium price does have an added advantage in terms of coverage period therein.

Fast forward some 14 months later to November 2017, and my missus was surprised to find that the X1 displayed the typical BMW low battery startup on one fateful morning. The fact that it was her birthday and she had a couple of appointments planned up with her mates, made the situation worst. She called me to ask for the next course of action, and I duly-called the BMW Roadside Assistance. Unfortunately, the calls were to no avail.

So, I called the insurance company to arrange for a panel mechanic to jump-start the car. The mechanic duly-arrived in a short period of time; but he was unfamiliar with BMW cars so a flat-bed carrier was arranged to bring the X1 to the nearest BMW service centre i.e. Wearnes Autohaus Segambut. 

Over at Wearnes, the experienced mechanics quickly determined that the problem was due to a faulty battery but since it was still under the BMW 24-months warranty, they recommended that I get the BMW Roadside Assistance personnel to replace the battery so as not to incur additional charges.

And so I found myself rushing over to Wearnes so that I could pass my car to missus to continue on her plans (which had already been disrupted anyhow), while I planted myself at the cafe and called Auto Bavaria Malaysia umpteen times and finding myself get passed from department to department; until they could finally confirm that the battery was under warranty as per the computer system and dispatched a team to drive the car back to Auto Bavaria Glenmarie for the FOC battery replacement.

I was informed that the car would only be ready the next day, as they needed to check if the fault was actually the battery (in which case the warranty would kick in) or due to other factors e.g. starter, alternator, electrical leak, etc. If it was due to the other parts, then the battery would need not be replaced but the faulty parts would necessitate the repairs.

Although I felt that it was an inconvenience and would have preferred the team to just replace a new battery in-situ so that I could continue on the day's plan, I understood that they could have an SOP in place and acceded to their request. I did appreciate the team's roadside assistance services to drive the car to Glenmarie by themselves so that I need not follow them there, and there find my transport back to my place again. Still, it had taken from morning to evening to settle the issue; although I had no idea that the misadventure was in fact just starting.

Note that the car was charged vide the front (look out for the area to clamp on as per the picture) and not directly at the battery in the rear, as that could damage the electronics or ECU.

The next day, I was contacted by an after-service personnel based in Auto Bavaria Glenmarie, whom informed me that the car had been duly-checked by their technicians, rectified accordingly, and was now ready to be picked up.

Phew, I thought in my mind, now it's all settled.

But then... he next informed me that they would be charging me the towing charges; and an additional RM1,900 being the diagnostic services and replacement battery charges.

I explained that there must have been a mistake as the car was driven there and not towed there, and that I had already informed them that it was a battery problem and the service personnel had confirmed over the phone that the battery was still under warranty and would be replaced FOC but that the replacement could only be done at BMW Glenmarie, hence the trouble of time and effort on my part to wait for them. Had they informed me that the battery was not under warranty, I would have just gotten Wearnes to replace a battery in-situ and be on my way; rather than to waste so many hours on that problem.

The personnel then informed me that he would check further on the matter, and would call me back later. 

After a couple of hours with no additional feedback per se, I tried calling their general line but the operator was unable to locate the said personnel. I had to leave a couple of messages before the personnel reverted to me later the evening.

He then explained that he had been busy with other customers hence the delay. And that he would waive the towing charges because (surprise, surprise) my car was not towed in as he initially thought. And that their technicians had to perform a full diagnostic in order to ascertain if the fault was indeed with the battery. That was a SOP on their part as an original battery replacement out of the entity's pocket, was an expensive exercise and they must ensure that it was indeed a battery fault. He had earlier deduced that it was a starter problem as BMW batteries would not normally fail in such a short duration of time. In fact, he shared that such batteries normally could be used for up to 5 years; hence they had to look very carefully for the source of the problem.

After running extensive diagnostic, they found no problems with the car except for the battery. However, the personnel informed that he was unable to honour the warranty on the battery as he was unable to find the registration of the battery in the system (yet, the ones whom spoke to me over the phone yesterday were able to check and inform me that battery was under warranty and the replacement would be FOC at the service centre). He was further unable to clarify from the technician whom had replaced the battery a year ago as the chap was on a 2-week holiday in New Zealand and he could only provide the warranty for the battery if the technician confirmed that it was duly attended to. So my options were either to wait 2 weeks later to pick up the car, or pay RM1,900 and pick up the car on the very day.

I asked to speak to his superior i.e. Mr Antony David, but I was informed that Mr David was at a conference in Penang and uncontactable until Monday back in office (Hello, does he not have a phone that you could just call over?). And I soon found that other heads were coincidentally either on leave or MC, so there was no others whom could assist me on this case. At this point, I informed him that I would opt to pick up the car the next day with 2 options :

1) Pay the RM1,900 for the said new battery and they reimburse me after clarifications with the holidaying technician (Again, I want to sing the Hello song); or

2) Put back the current faulty battery, jump-start the car, and I would drive over to Wearnes to replace with a Varta or Delkor battery that they have there (since the original BMW battery that was paid at a premium, turned out to be a defective good and further not covered by warranty; and I was not in the mood to be taken for a ride with a similar BMW battery).

You could imagine my utmost frustrations when the personnel then informed me that if I opted for option 2, I would have to bring over a tow-truck and tow it out of the service centre as they might choose not to jump-start the car for me since I was not paying for the battery!

I called my lawyer and was going to exercise my rights as a consumer, as I could no longer tolerate the nonsensical treatment that the personnel was dishing out to me! If this was the normal standards that Auto Bavaria Malaysia treated its customers i.e. like dirt, I would dispose off the Beemer rides in the household and bring the business to other more deserving marques. I was up to my neck at that point in time!

Thank goodness then that another personnel i.e. En Hafiz from the Customer Services was thereafter allocated to look into my case given that I had cautioned the earlier personnel that I was prepared to go legal; and within 30 minutes, En Hafiz informed me that he had made the necessary checking and could confirmed back that a new battery would be replaced on my car with no charges at all as per originally provided under the BMW 24-months warranty.

I wondered why that confrontational after-service personnel could not go the extra mile like En Hafiz, to really treat customers with respect and dignity. If he could have learnt from En Hafiz, we could have skipped through that nail-biting nasty episode over the last few hours and just got to the thank-you-so-much part. Kudos to En Hafiz for his excellent customer services skill, and Auto Bavaria Malaysia should really take care of this asset of a staff.

That was last evening.

This morning, I went to Auto Bavaria Glenmarie and met with both the after-service personnel (whom I hope that I would not have to deal with again as his customer services left too much to be desired!) and En Hafiz; and appreciated the fact that Auto Bavaria had replaced the new battery and that it came with a 24-months warranty starting today.

The mileage is 27k km today on the X1, and let's see if this new original battery does last the miles as it's supposed to or if it would be a dud as per the previous one. One could only cross one's fingers and hope for the best.

NB : The personnel informed me that he was surprised that the previous battery lasted only 14 months and deduced that it was because the car was only driven for 8k km within the period, so it failed because it was under-utilised. Had the car registered 80k km within the period, I supposed he could then say that it could be due to the battery being over-utilised. Like that also can, win liao lor!